PLANS for 140 new homes at Rosemary Vineyard in Ryde has been recommended for conditional approval — despite 140 letters of objection from locals.

The proposed development, at Smallbrook Lane, will go before the IW Council's planning committee on Tuesday, September 25.

It is deemed a major housing development considered to be of Islandwide significance, and relates to 14 hectares, which currently incorporates Sharon Orchard and Rosemary Vineyard.

The site currently has two access points, one off Smallbrook Lane and one off Ashey Road.

The application seeks outline consent for the construction of 140 dwellings. The scheme was originally submitted for 197 units and a community building but the amount of dwellings has been reduced, and the community building has been removed from the scheme.

The indicative layout shows unit types to include four one-bedroom flats, 47 two-bedroom houses, 52 three-bedroom houses, five four-bedroom houses, seven passive houses and 25 self build plots. All units would have two parking spaces.

Ryde Town Council objected to the application on grounds including access, traffic, lack of sustainable public transport, and lack of clarity in the housing needs statement.

Havenstreet and Ashey Parish Council objected on the grounds of vehicle movements, drainage and flooding, and over-development.

Concerns from local residents included capacity for GP surgery places, strain on the hospital and capacity at local schools, plus lack of job opportunities. They also mentioned loss of green space, highways concerns, and said the proposal amounted to urban sprawl.

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) requested that the application is refused on several grounds.

Officers stated that while the proposed development would change the visual appearance of the site dramatically, with the land currently being fields and vines, the site has residential development

to the north and would represent a visual extension to this.

No landscape designations cover the site and the AONB is located approximately 3km south of the site.

The traffic generation associated with the proposal was not deemed to have a negative impact on the capacity of the highway/project network to provide a sustainable reason for refusal.